'Rahul Gandhi was not wrong in invoking the 2002 Gujarat riots but when Arnab Goswami threw the curve ball of judicial clean chit to Modi, he did not know what to say. A better-prepared man would have come back that it was not a question of judicial clean chits but about owing up moral responsibility, would have even cited AB Vajpayee's own rajdharma plea,' argues Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'In 2009 we had 741 new cases of polio. This was the highest in the world. We ran the most apolitical crusade ever. We had the support of every government. We were never short of funds. The central government gave us Rs 11,000 crore a year. In 2011 we had 42 new cases. From 42 to 0 was our most difficult phase,' Mission Director Anuradha Gupta tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar in an exclusive interview about India's monumental campaign to eradicate polio.
'The food the Sri Lankans gave us was horrible. It used to stink. We used to throw most of it away... In the night my legs used to be in someone's face and his legs used to be in my lap. There was no space... There was no toilet... Both our bathing water and drinking water were salty. We had to beg the guards for clean drinking water.' Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar speaks to Indian fishermen just released from Sri Lankan custody.
A never-seen-before Rahul Gandhi exuded toughness and aggression. And it was not only about the words he used to castigate the opposition but his dialogue delivery, facial expressions, overall body language that conveyed a different, more confident Gandhi, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'I did not come here to contest elections and so I am not going to quit if I lose, television anchor and AAP member Ashutosh tells Rediff.com's Athimuthu Ganesh Nadar.
Research students took out a protest rally on Monday around the university campus, shouting slogans against the management for 'victimising three students, a professor, guest lecturer and a clerk', with the PG students joining in.
When over a hundred fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy and their boats seized last month, fishermen in coastal Tamil Nadu went on strike. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits the coastal towns of Nagapattinam and Rameswaram to discover that the fishermen do not have many choices.
A Ganesh Nadar profiles a non-governmental organisation that has revealed startling figures about the state's poor children.
Madurai Kamaraj University in Tamil Nadu, which has been rocked by student protests over the last few days, closed down two days ago. A Ganesh Nadar visits the campus to find out what went wrong.
A students-versus-vice chancellor battle has thrown the Madurai Kamaraj University into a flux, finds A Ganesh Nadar.
'You have to go from winning elections to winning people,' sociologist Ashis Nandy tells A Ganesh Nadar.
Rahul's time is not now, only Sonia Gandhi can lead the Congress into the 2014 final, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Rahul's time is not now, only Sonia Gandhi can lead the Congress into the 2014 final, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Could this reluctance be tied to the family's projection of themselves as the last bastion of the aam-aadmi's interests? Do they fear that a full disclosure of their not-inconsiderable assets would go against their carefully-cultivated pro-poor image, wonders Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
After the court exonerated him in the case, a happy Prof Joseph told Rediff.com over the phone, "I am very happy. I had no intentions of hurting anyone. When the protests happened I had given an unconditional apology to both the public and the college but it was not accepted. Today they know that I was innocent."
Ranjit Sinha has not only insulted every woman in the land, he has angered the sensibilities of every right thinking citizen of the land with his crass remark, says A Ganesh Nadar.
A Ganesh Nadar speaks to onion farmers in Nashik, India's largest wholesale onion market, about the high prices.
Three engineering students from Tuticorin are in jail for their college principal's murder. A Ganesh Nadar digs deeper to find out what went wrong
"After 21 years, a Gujarati film won the National award. And now, it's going to the Oscars. I'm so happy!" gushes actor Pankaj Jhala, who is a part of the Gujarati film, The Good Road, which has been selected as India's entry to next year's Oscars.
A cross-section of people from Tamil Nadu speak of their expectations from Narendra Modi.